


Mechu-Deru: Anakin's Relationship With Machines and the Force

by WingletBlackbird



Series: Anakin Skywalker's Character [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, Gen, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, cross-posted from tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 11:03:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17000352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingletBlackbird/pseuds/WingletBlackbird
Summary: Why Anakin might have liked tinkering with droids, and how the Jedi may have viewed it.





	Mechu-Deru: Anakin's Relationship With Machines and the Force

Mechu-Deru is a Force ability that involves machinery. It is quite rare as technology isn’t alive and most Jedi would struggle to interact with it using the Force. The principle behind it is that one places one’s own Force energy into it and thereby communes with the machinery.

Unsurprisingly, Anakin is significantly skilled at mechu-deru. It is one of his greater areas of strength in the Force and he has used it, instinctually, from a young age. Anakin finds that beyond his skill in programming, mathematics, engineering, and just being a general grease-monkey and gear-head, he can place his hands on any machine, channel the Force into, see what’s wrong and know how to fix it. Better yet, he can see how it’s been made, how it should be, and how to go about making it better. He loves doing it. It’s just so satisfying.

I would say that Anakin appreciates mechu-deru on another level, however, that goes beyond mere enjoyment. Anakin struggles a great deal with ‘excess’ from the Force. Being able to channel the extra Force into machinery must help him manage being as powerful as he is. He probably keeps things to fiddle with in his pockets for those times when he’s overwhelmed and doesn’t know how to channel it. In fact, you can tell when Anakin is getting too much ‘background noise’ when he pulls out a tiny project from his belt, his comm if he’s desperate, and starts fiddling with it to drain away the surplus Force. This is why moving meditation is Anakin’s favourite form of meditation and why he goes straight to his Starfighter when he needs to focus, because when the Force is pounding him, (and he was never taught how to handle that), he can relieve himself of it, to a small extent, by pushing it into the machinery he works with.

There is a side effect to this though. The Force that flows through you is intensely personal and to place it into an object, however temporarily, will affect it. Once might not matter so much, but over time, and time again, there will be residue. You can observe this in the unique nature of C-3P0, for instance. (R2-D2 as well, but I think that also had to do with Padme’s coddling of him, and refusing to wipe his memory for a decade, before she gave him to Anakin.) Technology that Anakin worked with closely, C-3Po, R2-D2, his Starfighters, the Twilight, etc. came to be able to perform at levels that were decidedly unusual. Anakin left an imprint of his touch in them beyond his simple enhancements.

Skill at mechu-deru was not just rare in the Jedi Order, it was not particularly well-respected either. The skill was reserved primarily for the tech specialists in the Temple, as most Jedi simply didn’t have the skill or strength to manipulate machinery on such a level, but also because they felt that dealing with items that didn’t possess the Force was ludicrous. Moreover, as the technique was originally invented by Sith magicians, there was a certain bias that existed already against the techniques. Similar to mind tricks, there was a fine line between dark and light with mechu-deru as one could impose one’s will onto the droids, computers, ships etc. and utilize them as an extension of one’s own desires, might, and will. Furthermore, the Sith who invented the technique would use it to combine metal and flesh in gruesome ways to build rather horrific armies enhancing the negative association.

It is for these reasons that the Jedi held a certain prejudice against cybernetic replacements even though they understood the necessity. Aside from placing an item that cannot sense the Force onto yourself, which is horrible enough, surely you must lose some of your ability to feel the Force if that happens? I mean, if the Sith did it…Besides, how could a machine truly feel the Force…? This is ludicrous, however, because if the amount of flesh you had was equal to your Force-Sensitivity…Well, Master Yoda, I am afraid that size does indeed matter. As is quite common, concentration, (of midichlorians in this case), has been confused with quantity.

Anakin, of course, never held with such beliefs and utter superstitions, and once he got over the pain of losing his arm, came to channel the Force into it, tinkering with it constantly. He loved the arm, once he accepted it, and he loved improving it. It helped him focus a lot when things got tough which was an added bonus, especially during a war. Nevertheless, there were many Jedi who looked down on his love of all things mechanical as to love something that was not alive was clearly a perversion which would lead to the Dark Side. Ironically, the frustration at having to deal with such narrow-mindedness sent Anakin running back and back and back to his toys to escape, resulting in an endless cycle.

(This also lends some curious insight into the quote: “He’s more machine now than man, twisted and evil.”)


End file.
